Artemis Fowl

In Artemis Fowl, an acorn plays a key role in the Ritual that fairies use to renew their magic power, and it represents the power of nature, which fairies are in tune with, but which humans struggle to understand. An acorn is a small, unassuming object, but it can grow into a giant, enduring tree. Similarly, the acorn that Holly carries is small enough to fit in her boot, but it gives her the power to make herself practically invisible to humans and even to cure otherwise fatal wounds. Artemis, despite reading the whole Book of the fairies, still thinks like a human and doesn’t realize the acorn’s power to help Holly escape until it’s too late. Typical of a human, he believed that his big, impressively constructed manor would be able to keep Holly as a hostage, not realizing that all it took was one small patch of dirt for her acorn to restore her power.

Although both the humans and fairies use technology extensively, the acorn represents how the fairies use technology in a way that’s more harmonious with nature. Fowl Manor is an elaborately manmade structure, and although Artemis thinks that the limestone base beneath the manor will protect him, his family’s eagerness to expand the manor leaves it vulnerable to infiltration by Mulch, who gets inside via a cellar built over clay. By contrast, fairies are more judicious about how they use technology. For example, the mechanical wings they use are an extension of their old magic powers, and their underground cities are less sprawling and polluting than the human equivalents.